Device for use in drilling or cleaning out wells.



PATEN'IED EEB. 2l, 1905.

N.. H. BOW'LBY.

DEVICE FOR USE IN DRILLING 0R CLEANING OUT WELLS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24. 1904.

@CM. f

' NTTED STATES Patented February 21. 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

NOLAN HERBERT BOVVLBY, OF FINDLAY, OHIO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,360, dated February 21, 1905.

I Application l'led May 24, 1904. Serial No. 209,481.

l a citizen of the United States, residing at Findlay, Hancock county, Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Use in Drilling or Cleaning Out Wells; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain improvements in devices for use in drilling oil-wells and the like, and more particularly relates to means for use in removing the sediment which collects around tools wedged or jammed in wells to facilitate the releasing and removal of such tools; and the objects and nature of my invention will be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the following description of the devices illustrated by the accompanying' drawings.

In drilling wells where water is encountered the operation and movement of the drillingtool in the water so agitates the water that it holds in suspension a large quantity of sediment or refuse. lf the drilling-tool becomes so jammed o1' wedged at the lower end of the well that it cannot be released withoutthe use of a .fishing-tool, the water being allowed to remain quiet or at rest during the operation necessary to prepare for the application of the iishing-tool permits the sediment or refuse to settle and pack around the wedged drilling-tool before the fishing-tool can be applied thereto. This sediment packs'so closely within the lower end of the well and around the tool that it is generally impossible to remove the wedged tool even with the use of a` fishing-tool, and hence the wedged tool must be loosened or the sediment must be displaced in order to permit the removal of the tool and continuance of the drilling operation.

1t is an object of my invention to provide Awhich is fast in the bottom of the well.

refuse and sediment to permit the successful removing or releasing operation of the fishingtool.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in certain novel features in construction, arrangements, and combinations of parts, as more fully and particularly pointed out and described hereinafter.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section, the plunger or working valve and its stem being shown in its lower or normal position and the well, fast drilling-tool, and sediment being indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective showing the two sections of the working barrel or tubes separated and partially broken away and showing the coupling and standing-valve sleeve. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the device, enlarged, portions of the working barrel and tool-receiving section being broken away.

In the drawings, a is a cylindrical tube-section having an unobstructed bore or longitudinal opening of a diameter greater than the greatest external diameter of the drilling-tool This tube section a in length is approximately equal to the extreme length of said fast drilling-tool-that is, the tube-section a must not be shorter than the extreme length of the said drilling-tube nor must it materially exceed such tool in length. This tube-section is of such external diameter as to freely enter the well, and its external and internal diameters must afford spaces for downward passage of water within the well and at the exterior of the tube-section and for upward passage of water and sediment within said tube-section and around said tool. The lower end of said tube-section is notched, as at or otherwise formed to rest on the sediment packed around the fast tool and afford passages transversely across said sediment from the exterior to the interior of said tube-section. This tube-section a is of a size and capacity to passdown loosely around the fast tool and completely inclose the same with its lower end resting on the packed sediment. The upper end of said tube-section is internally and longitudinally ordinary construction.

screw-threaded to receive and longitudinally screw onto acylindrical coupling and standingvalve sleeve or casing c, which is externally screw-threaded throughout its length and which is preferably of the same diameter throughout its length. The standing or check valve al is arranged at the upper end of this sleevectoopen upwardly and close downwardly against the top edge of said sleeve. This valve can be of any suitable or desirable construction or form, although in the drawings show a form of upwardly-swinging hinge or' flap valve at one edge hinged to the top edge of said sleeve. e is a tube-section usually of the same diameter and length as the tube-section (t and having its lower end internal-lythreaded to screw onto the said sleeve or casing o. The upper end of the tube-section e is provided with any suitable sucker-rod-guiding bail f, suitably secured in the section, and this bail is provided with a vertical perforation through which the valve-stem or suckerrod freely passes and in which it can reciprocate, as hereinafter set forth.

The bail is formed and secured to the tubesection in a manner to stand considerable strain and support considerable weight, for it has to support the weight of the device and its contents during the operation of raising the same within the well. At a point near its lower end and terminating, say, about an inch above valve Z I provide said upper tubesection with a lateral discharge slot or opening normally closed by a sliding door or valve g, arranged at the inner surface of the tube to slide upwardly at the inner surface of the tube to expose the opening and permit discharge of the contents of the tube-section. This upper tube-section e forms and constitutes the working barrel or cylinder for a working valve or sucker t, arranged to reciprocate therein and having the ordinary central longitudinal passage z', controlled by a valve j', which permits upward fiow through said passage, but automatically closes the same against downward fiow therethrough. This working valve can be of any suitable or lc is the valve-stem or sucker-rod, at its lower end suitably coupled to the upper end of the working valve and passing upwardly through the perforation of stance, about twelve inches longer than the vupper tube-section e.

lis a coiled spring located on the valve-stem and resting on the working valve and designed to engage the under face ofthe bail and compress between the same and the working' valve to cushion the blow or shock when the working Valve is drawn up to its limit and when ries the standing valve, whereby the tube-sec- Y tions and the standing valve can be easily separated for inspection, repair, or renewal.

In operation the drill-cable is coupled by suitable means to the upper end of the valvestem and the device is lowered into the well until the lowerf tube-section completely incloses the wedged or fast drilling-tool and rests on the sediment packed around the same. The sucker or working valve is allowed 'to drop to its limit of downward movement in the upper tube-section or barrel and is then drawn upwardly, which action draws the water from the drilling-tool-receiving section t upwardly through the standing valve and into the upper section or barrel. The well usually contains a water column of considerable height, sometimes extending to a height of several hundred feet, and the weight of this column forces the water, when the standing valve is drawn up, transversely across the packed sediment and into the lower end `of said drilling-tool-receiving section, thereby looseningand stirring up the sediment and carrying the same into the said section, from which it is carried into the barrel. `I/Vhen the working valve reaches its limit of upward movement in the barrel, the device is lifted to the top of the well and a suitable clamp is fastened to the exterior ofthe drilling-tubereceiving section` by which the device is held in position with its barrel above the mouth of the Well. The side discharge gate or valve is then opened, and the contents of the barrel IOO IIO

are thus discharged laterally. The device is prising two tube-sections, a standing-valve casing removably uniting the same, a valve at the upper end of said casing, a working valve in the upper tube-section and a valve-stem for said working valve.

2. In combination, a working barrel having a standing valve in its lower end and a side discharge-opening at its lower portion provided with closing means, a bail at the upper end of the barrel, a working valve in said barrel, a working valve-stem extending through and above said bail, and adrilling-tool-receiving tube-section extending downwardly from and removably coupled to said barrel.

3. In combination, a barrel, a drilling-toolreceiving tube-section of approximately the same length and capacity as said barrel, a sleeve uniting the barrel and said section, a

standing valve, and a working valve and its and rest on the sediment packed around the same, for the purpose described.

5. In combination, a barrel and its working valve and stem, the lower end of the barrel being internally threaded, a drilling-tool-rcceiving tube-section having its upper end internally threaded, and a sleeve externally threaded throughout its length and screwed into said threaded ends ofthe barrel and said section, and at its upper end provided with the vertically-swinging valve to close down on the upper end of the sleeve, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afHx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NOLAN HERBERT BOWLBY.

Witnesses:

ALFRED GRABER, JOHN MooREs. 

